line on syria's use of chemical weapons seems to be shifting. why? >> in august, president obama said his calculus would change if the chemical weapons were moved or used. this week we have heard many warnings against using them. it appears that some have been moved and the more worrisome concern is that some may have been mixed into a form that you could use for actually dropping them as a weapon. we do not know quite how urgent that problem is and there have been conflicting reports on that, but you have not heard president obama repeat the warning against using them. i think, in part, that is because they do not have a lot of leverage for getting in around those sites. they depend on circuits. surrogates. >> the think the u.s. is urging each of's leaders to delay a vote -- egypt's leaders to delay a vote? >> he put forward to the people of this constitutional change which would seem quite strong. the irony is that president obama, having contributed to pushing mubarak out, is now facing the same problem with dealing with the man himself, which is what do you do when you desperately

right to determine its own best of the. test a perfect thing to argue moves forward. was four weeks following barack obama's reelection nearly one million americans have moved forward by campaigning to break apart all fifty states have filed online petitions with the white house requesting to peacefully secede from the so-called perfecting union a movement that's garnered more than thirty thousand signatures in north carolina where many like michael toggled. see independence as a symbol may twentieth a consistent one is the day that north carolina sated from the union and america's stars and stripes ripping at the seams there's no doubt in my mind that it is inevitable i mean something like this with the the debt this country has with the growing disunion among in the among the people they can't last forever and that's the lesson of history big empires always collapse under their own weight secession supporters like bernard thurst some say washington's weight of growing debt and loose wars government intrusion and a broken immigration system has become a bipartisan destructive force

a few days at the end of the year. in their first discussions yesterday after a week's hiatus we are told there were no signs of progress and even a hardening of positions. in fact, earlier president obama discussed the stalemate with middle-class families. >> for them to be burdened unnecessarily because the democrats and republicans aren't coming together to solve this problem gives you a since of the costs involved in very personal terms. >> he showed what he is really after is assuming unprecedented power to spend taxpayer dollars without any limit at all. >> the major sticking points continue to be how to handle tax rates for wealthy americans, and also, what to do about reducing spending on entitlement programs like social security and medica medicare. >> aide between the president and the speaker of the house met and the talks basically went nowhere. according to one of the president's aide he said higher taxes of course on the wealthy. a deal must include permanent extension of the debt ceiling and source also say that indicated no willingness to go any further on limitin

up. there's a little more than three weeks left until the u.s. goes over the fiscal cliff. >> reporter: in his saturday weekly address, president obama signaled he is open to making cuts in programs like medicare and medicaid if republicans agree to raise tax rates for the rich. >> i'm willing to make more entitlement spending cuts on top of the $1 trillion in spending cuts i signed into law last year. >> reporter: his remarks came one day after house speaker boehner announced the talks were stalled. >> well, this isn't a progress report, because there's no progress to report. >> reporter: his democratic counterpart nancy pelosi blamed boehner for the stalemate. >> what they offered in return was an empty letter, lacking in specifics. >> reporter: such is the state of negotiations, 23 days before the deadline, when federal income tax will revert to higher levels, and long-term unemployment benefits will dry up for over two million americans who have been out of work for six months or more. on friday, boehner did not rule out a compromise on a tax hike for top earners, some

, president obama said his calculus would change if the chemical weapons were moved or if they were used. this week, we have heard many warnings against using them. it appears some have been worried -- lived and the bigger concern was that some may have been mixed into the form you could use for actually dropping them as a weapon. we do not know how urgent that problem is. there have been conflicting reports. certainly you have not heard president obama repeat the warning against using them. i think that is because they do not have a lot of leverage for getting in those places. they have to depend on surrogates. >> if you think where they have more leverage, with egypt, are they urging leaders to delay a vote on this constitution? >> it would seem they are urging the president to rethink the kind of declarations he made. he has been saying to the west, this is temporary and then he puts a constitutional change which would seem to be strong. the irony is that president obama, having contributed to helping push mubarak out, is now facing the same problem that his predecessors felt in deali

to cancel next week's vote on a new constitution. president obama spoke with morsi yesterday via phone, calling the violence unacceptable. >>> and back here at home, we get a new snapshot of the economy this morning, when the government releases its jobs report for the month of november. it's believed that several factors combined seriously hampered last month's hiring. among them, concerns about the looming fiscal cliff. and other factors, as well. abc's tahman bradley has that story from washington. >> reporter: the fiscal cliff is still three weeks away. but the economy may have already taken a hit. economists predict the government's monthly jobs report, due out later this morning, will show that employers added fewer than 100,000 workers in november. superstorm sandy may be part of the reason job creation slowed. but worry over the fiscal cliff may have also had an immaterial pact. some economists believe that 200,000 fewer jobs thhave been created this year, due to uncertainty about the fiscal cliff. >> it's very important we get it done now. >> reporter: republicans and de

week. president obama and democrats are ripping him for resisting tax hikes on the rich. boehner's own party is giving him a hard time for not resisting hard enough. chief political correspondent carl cam has a deeper look at -- carl cameron has a deeper look at that story. >> john boehner is trying to stave off conservative rebellion in the ranks. his proposal to steer clear of the fiscal cliff raising tax revenue $800 billion closing the loopholes outraged antitax conservatives. when the speaker removed the conserve priv key committees in the past, the battle began. >> $800 billion over ten years and that looks like it would be a tax increase to me. 238 republicans, myself included, took a pledge not to raise taxes. they want to send a message to me to send a message to others. that we are not going to tolerate people who are interested in doing what is right. we want to play the same old game. if you try to disrupt that, we will knock you off a committee. >> for refusing to tow the leadership line, two conservatives were tossed off the house budget committee and david swiekert and j

obama says cutting a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff could to be done in a week but the president said that won't happen unless republicans drop their opposition to the wealthy. president obama visited a virginia family to move his cause. he maintained his hard line on tax increase. >> just to be clear i'm not going to sign any package that somehow prevents the top rates from going up for folks at the top 2%. but i do remain optimistic that we can get something done. >> congress and the president have until the end the year to avert automatic spending cuts and tax increase. take a quick break. when we come back on the morning news a preview of this morning's jobs report. what role did sandy play in hiring? ♪ [ male announcer ] with free package pickup from the u.s. postal service. visit usps.com. pay, print, and have it picked up for free before december 20h for delivery in time for the holidays. you can even give us special instructions on where to find it. free package pickup. from the u.s. postal service. because it's nice to have an extra pair of hands around for the holiday

another reason to buy this company that is at its 52-week high. >> president obama hits the road to secure his position on the fiscal cliff. but why ral-- this is america. we don't let frequent heartburn come between us and what we love. so if you're one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day... block the acid with prilosec otc and don't get heartburn in the first place! [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery. >>> i just want to be sure

debt that you said, i wrote a piece this week,. >> i read it. >> saying my god obama overreached. you should be out there fighting for mcconnell gets up finally and says that then boat and then he deserts it. the whole purpose was to make it an issue. it's never going to pass the house. put the democrats on record. the republicans can't even agree among themselves to fight back for anything they believe in except leaving one impression that obama talking to the pluck. they are talking to each other and screaming about taxes. they should be talking about going over the cliff and the deficit and the debt with the president who shows no inclination, by the bay to cut anything. >> and we have also made this about grover norquist. if i hear about him one more time. this is absolutely ridiculous. >> peter king's wife better not meet grover norquist because we know what she is going to do. doug, it seems that both sides are kind of, you know, saying well, i will blame the other side, i will blame the other side. the republicans can't each get together to say we'll blame the other side.

weeks. in san francisco the average price $3.71. that is down 30 cents from a months ago. in oakland 3 dollars 59. san jose see the dollars 57. >>> president obama and speaker of the house john boehner met today to discuss the fiscal cliff. this comes as the head of the international monetary fund said failing to reach a deal would have far reaching effects on the economy. >> reporter: a quick fix is not the answer for resolving the fiscal crisis. a more comprehensive solution is needed. she says any deal must do more than avoid the fiscal cliff to get america's economy growing again. >> there is still the degree of uncertainty that prevents investors from making decisions. >> reporter: but washington's top republican leader speaker of the house john boehner explains there has been no progress. >> when it comes to the fiscal cliff that is threatening the economy and the jobs the white house wasted another week. >> reporter: democrats show no signs of backing off from sporting the president on raising the income tax on the rich. >> there has to be two sides to the bargain but

captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> this week, the national and capital christmas trees were lit in washington, d.c. president obama and his family participated in the lighting of the national christmas tree. veep tradition started with president calvin coolidge. press -- speaker john boehner is out the lighting of the capitol christmas tree. watched both of these events tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> tomorrow on "washington journal." we will talk about the latest of the so-called fiscal cliff discussions. then all look at the lobbying going around the fiscal cliff negotiations by clients in washington. our guest is anna palmer. and later a discussion on syria and the response from the international community. live at 7:00 a.m. eastern here on c-span. this week on news makers, the vermont governor and chair of the democratic governors' association peter shumlin. he talks about the fiscal cliff and laying the groundwork for the 2013-2014 election. that is at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> in president obama's weekly addre

electricity to cooking gas and cigarettes. egypt is in for a noisy week. allen pizzey, cbs news, cairo. >> jeff: back in washington president obama and house speaker john boehner did meet at the white house this afternoon. for more talks on the fiscal cliff. details were not released but both sides say lines of communication remain open. on face the nation erskine bowles co-chair of the bipartisan deficit commission told bob schieffer he's a bit more optimistic than he was a week ago. >> we were going through the cab ukee theatre, one side making an offer, the other rejecting it and that is pretty natural in any deal. but you know, they've started to tango now and you know any time you got two guys in there tangoing you got a chance to get it done. >> meanwhile urging both sides to get this done jeffrey immelt chairman of general electric spoke to charlie rose. >> i would say the business community almost universitily speaks with one voice that this needs to get done and get done now. and moving it to next year is just failure. >> jeff: you can see the full jeffrey immelt interview fir

. you've seen how the united states has reacted this week. president obama made a very pointed warning publicly to the syrian leadership. secretary clinton has done that twice on her current trip. secretary clinton will be meeting with the russian foreign minister and the u.n. mediator in syria today in brevlin. >> let's talk about those meetings. >> you can be sure that this issue of chemical weapons will be at the top of the list. >> no question about that. what are the options there? what can the international community do at this point if, in fact, they are already in a position where they're loading these components on to the weapons? >> well, one is this public message from the united states, from the nato secretary general and from the russians. the syrian government, including assad personally, will be held accountable. second is perhaps to see if the russians can use their influence. they're the big egest arms supplier to syria, the biggest ally that syria has, to dissuade the syrians from letting this chemical weapons loose or using them against the rebel alliance. if assad s

week president obama and speaker boehner talked about the fiscal cliff. it was by phone. both sides agreed that they would not talk about the details. what we do know is that it has not led yet to any major breakthroughs. we want to get to congressman steve latourette, republican from the state of ohio. he is leaving congress, decided not to run for re-election, citing gridlock as a big reason why. we appreciate your time with us this morning. >> thank you. >> can we start with syria first before we get to the fiscal cliff? we know that there's this red line that hillary clinton has talked about. but nbc news has reported that syria is loading chemical weapon components on to bombs, which could -- makes us think, well, what's the next step? to what degree does this mean military action for the united states? >> couple of things, the nbc report is unconfirmed. the other piece of news is that the secretary is expected to meet with the russian foreign minister in dublin, i believe, and talk specifically about getting the okay to put in place economic sanctions that would cripple the sy

two weeks. >> too little, too late; president obama's response to the g.o.p. plan to avoid the cliffally. in an interview with blomberg tv the president said there is not enough time to pull off the republican's proposal that overhauls the tax system and entitlements at tate days from going over the fiscal cliff which is called the series of spending cuts and expiring tax breaks which would be an economic disaster. the sticking point is the call for higher taxes for families, higher taxes on amounts earned above $250,000. everyone gets the tax cut, the first $250,000 is not taxable only but that. the president says, look, i ran on this and i am going to do this. but he is signaling he could be flexible on how high they would go. ed henry is like. this has been out there for a few days. >>reporter: that right. the president had the governors in today and they underdiscover the fiscal cliff will not just impact the national economy but have a lot of impact on state and local economies, as well, and their state budgets, et cetera. the president, though, is standing firm. and jake

americans, something mr. obama disagrees with. >> we could probably solve this in about a week. it's not that tough. but we need that conceptual breakthrough that says we need a balanced plan. that's what's best for the economy. that's what the american people voted for. that's how we're going to get it done. >> mr. obama's treasury secretary, tim geithner, went a step further, saying that the president would allow the nation to go over the fiscal cliff at the end of the year, if republicans don't agree to raise taxes on the wealthy. >>> and maybe abraham lincoln can help the fiscal cliff negotiations. harry reid believes so. the senate will get inspiration when reid hosts a clescreening the spielberg movie. >> whatever helps to get things moving, right? >>> hundreds of same-sex couples in washington state lined up overnight to get a marriage license now that they can legally wed. the county clerk's office in seattle opened at midnight to accommodate couples eager to make history. there's another historic first in washington overnight. it is now legal to buy and possess pot. the law, tho

padilla put forward a bill to regulate usage. >>> president obama is closely monitoring a week-long strike at two southern california ports. 800 members of the clerical union who work at the port of los angeles and long beach had been working without a contract for more than two years. the clerks don't handle the cargo, but dock workers are now refusing to cross picket lines forcing a shutdown in most terminals in southern california. the los angeles mayor cut short a business trip to south america and landed at l.a.x. last night and has been at the port ever since. >> as the days go by, we're losing billions of dollars according to economic forecasters. that's a big blow to an economy just getting out of a crisis. >> the strike is not only costly to the economy, it could also delay shipments of merchandise to be shoulder over the holiday season. >>> time now 6:40. tech gadgets are the hot items on this year's wish list. cnet's brian cooley is here to break down the top picks. >> the early numbers on the stock market a mixed bag. lots of time though. we'll chat about it with jason b

our economy and jobs the white house has wasted another week. >>reporter: he calls officials saying they are ready to go over the trip. >>shepard: democrats insist that revenue, revenue, revenue is the key. >>guest: president obama campaigned on it and obviously won and democrats insist upper income americans should pay higher taxes but there could be room to negotiate but their point is they don't want to talk about other aspects of a deal until the g.o.p. gives in on their demand for more tax money. >> what is lacking are the revenues. we cannot cut your way to deficit reduction. what reduces the deficit are jobs. job creation. after spending cuts, and medicare saving, and next is the revenue. >>reporter: leader pelosi spent time at the white house today meeting with president obama on what we are told are a number of issues. >>shepard: thank you, mike, from washington, dc. we know that business collects information from us when we go to our website our mobile apps. usually it is legal. there is a new law that requires companies to notify you if it is taking information from you.

. house speaker john boehner did speak by phone to president obama this week, and it was widely reported the two have agreed to negotiate directly with each other. but boehner said today, "there's no progress to report." >> four days ago, we offered a serious proposal based on testimony of president clinton's former chief of staff. since then there's been no counteroffer from the white house. instead, reports indicate that the president has adopted a deliberate strategy to slow-walk our economy right to the edge of the fiscal cliff. >> sreenivasan: the president has insisted there will be no deal unless republicans agree to raise tax rates on the top 2%. republicans say the tax hikes would only hurt job creation. but in arlington, virginia, vice president biden said today's jobs report shows the economy is turning a corner, so it's critical to get a deal. >> there is a sense... there is a sense that if we can reach an- - act like adults and reach an agreement here on the fiscal cliff, the upside is much higher even than the downside is if we don't. >> sreenivasan: biden said the presiden

this week is said to be critical. and now we have the president heading out on the road again. president obama leaves d.c. today, headed to michigan to talk to auto workers, part of his strategy to generate public support for his plan to avoid the fiscal cliff, the tax hikes and spending cuts due to kick in at year end. the president and house speaker john boehner met one on one at the white house on sunday. while no details were leaked, a rarity for washington, we do know the main sticking points remain. raising taxes on high earners and making cuts to entitlement programs like medicare. >> you know, they started their tango now, and any time you start a tango, you have to get it done. >> more republicans are accepting the idea that wealthy americans will get a tax raise hike. >> there are a group of folks looking at this realizing we don't have a lot of cards before year end. >> but others remain opposed to raising taxes on the top 2%. >> the president wants the rates to go up. that doesn't solve the problem, and we don't want to be back here in another year, another ten yea

department saying today that claims fell $25,000 last week. that is in comparison when the labor department reported 451,000 claims after hurricane sandy, shawn. >> tom fitzgerald, thank you. >>> new jersey governor chris christie met with president obama to talk about the after math from superstorm sandy. he's pressing the white house for federal assistance to speed up the recovery process. president obama is expected to ask congress for $50 billion in additional emergency funds for the state's heavily affected by the storm. christ eye ie was widely criticized by fellow republicans for praising the president and the federal government's response to sandy one week before election day. governor christie was not the only lawmaker asking for help. a number of lawmakers from the northwest travelled to the district and their focus is to get more help to pay to fix trains and ports that suffered from sandy. >> it was the large transit disaster in the nation's history. four out of 10 of the nation's transit riders, of the nation's transit riders have their commutes disrupted by the stor

continue through the middle of the week. jay gray, nbc news, california. >>> well, several of america's entertainment greats received the nation's highest award for the arts last night. the kennedy center honors. president obama praised this year's list which includes late-night tv legend david letterman, the iconic rock band led zeppelin and oscar winner dustin hoffman. hoffman's co-star in four movies, robert deniro, shared an only-in-hollywood moment. >> i first met dustin at a party in 1968. i was his waiter. it was an instant connection when he said to me, "how's the flounder?" >> the kennedy center honors will air on television later this month. >>> and now for a look at the national weather, we turn to nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. how's the flounder? >> flaky. very flaky. did you have a good weekend? >> i did. it was great. yours? >> people out there getting tans this weekend. the calendar goes to december -- >> i'm much darker. >> nice. good morning, everyone. incredibly warm air spread across the country. everyone that's east of the

gas into bombs. and president obama's pot problem. let's go "outfront." >>> i'm tom foreman in for erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, the magic number after a whole week of harsh words here in washington and threats too, did house speaker john boehner hint ever so slightly at a compromise today that could finally edge us away from the dreaded fiscal cliff? it comes down to tax rates. this is a huge sticking point in the stalled negotiations between the president and mr. boehner. obama says the top rate on household income above $250,000 should rise from 35% to 39.6%. boehner wants the rate to stay at 35% or even lower. but what about meeting in the middle? around 37%? listen carefully to the speaker when he was asked today whether that rate could be the answer to this impasse. >> there are a lot of things that are possible. to put the revenue the president seeks on the table. but none of it's going to be possible if the president insists on his position. insists on my way or the highway. >> you hear what he said? a lot of things are possible. that may not sound like much where you'r

called for a parcel tax to help fund fire services. >>> president obama is closely monitoring a week-long strike at two southern california ports. 800 members of the clerical union who work at the ports of los angeles and long beach had been working without a contract for more than two years. the clerks don't handle cargo but dock workers are refusing to cross picket lines forcing a shutdown of most terminals. experts estimate the strike is costing the u.s. up to $1 billion a day. and it could delay shipments of holiday gift merchandise. >>> there's a tentative contract agreement between port of oakland and union workers. two weeks ago, more than 500 members of seiu local 1021 went on strike. they had been at the bargaining table for 16 months. details of the agreement will be released when the contract is voted on tomorrow. >>> president obama will host a group of governors today to talk about the "fiscal cliff" after he rejected a counterproposal from congressional republicans. that plan promised to trim $2.2 trillion over the next 10 years and cuts from entitlements and billions i

next hour. meanwhile, president obama will visit a chrysler plant just outside detroit today. remember, a city council woman last week said the city deserves a federal bailout because the city helped reelect the president. >> after the election of jimmy carter, the honorable coleman alexander young, he went to washington d.c., and came back home with some bacon. stuart: well, you heard the rest from there. the lady goes on to say it's a quid pro quo give us the monny because we voted for you. the question, will the president offer any hint of a bailout, bailout help for deeroit today. will he address union anger at michigan's right to work legislation? this goes to the heart of government spending and the position of organized labor in president obama's second term. we're right there in michigan. let's go to facebook. weigh in on what's happening there. will detroit get a bailout and what do you think about the unions? will they win? good questions all. now, one of the worst blowouts in nfl history. seattle seahawks beat arizona cardinals 58-0. the cardinals threw four interc

style. let's take a look at the clip. >> the week before the storm, you were out there, president obama couldn't lead his way out of a paper bag with a fistful of money in the tank -- [ laughter ] and then right after the storm was over, you were like, this man is a leader. [ laughter ] like, doesn't that -- [ applause ] doesn't that tell you something about the game? what does that tell you about the game? >> what it tells me is that people have different skill sets at different times. that's what it tells me. >> i see. so, so, he wasn't a leader until you needed leadership. >> maybe it's until he was presented with a stark opportunity to lead. >> an opportunity. >> and of course, the governor -- >> oh, god. >> come on! >> boss legend bruce springsteen, christie, who explains he's a major fan, explains he's running with the new jersey native after nbc's hurricane sandy telethon. >> i was on stage afterwards talking to steve van zandt and max weinberg, and then all of a sudden, they were looking behind me, they moved away and stopped talking. so, i turned around. there he was. >> and th

sides have what they say are opening gambits on the table. president obama at least his last week which calls for $1.6 trillion in revenues. the republicans came back with their own yesterday. as you looked at each approach, what do you see in that? >> well, i think it's important. i think the reporting has been a little weak on the republican plan. it isn't really a plan. they're claiming $2.2 trillion in deficit reduction but the specifics they've actually laid out such as they have are only about $300 billion. the rest of it is all vapor ware. claims that they will close loopholes. they won't say what. claims they will cut spending but they don't say how. the republican plan is actually just a smoke screen. there's nothing real there. the obama plan is a very good, very sensible plan. which as we know as very little chance of taking place in its current form. at least it's a real plan. we know what it is he's proposing to do. >> ifill: among the critics of his plan are those who say that it doesn't do anything or speak at all to the economy of entitlement reform or at least cut

week before the christmas holiday. i think that's when you have president obama and john boehner engaged in very serious discussio discussions, but right now it's the stage of posturing and pr. >> what about the idea that negotiations are now essentially the speaker in the room and the president in the room. first of all, how much do house republicans trust john boehner to get a good deal for the gop? >> well, that is a big question. "the new york times" had a very smart piece earlier this week reporting that john boehner seems to have a stronger command of the rank and file than ever before, but the white house seems like it was burned in 2011 during that debt ceiling fight where the end of the day they felt like that they could make a deal with john boehner, but he couldn't cut any deal either because his leadership wasn't totally on board as well as the rank and file. there is some danger to the mono and mono negotiating because it hasn't worked before. if there's a deal, it's definitely between the house and house republicans. those are the key players. if they bring in more

be president obama's water loo. remember that? earlier this week he argued that speaker boehner's proposal tax hikes would destroy jobs. but senator demind says his resignation has nothing to do with the fiscal cliff. it's because he has accepted a job as president of the conservative think tank the heritage foundation. jim demint served three terms as a u.s. congressman from south carolina before voters first elected him to the senate in 2004. mike emanuel is on capitol hill tonight. it's a big resignation,. >> jim demint says is he leaving the senate, shep he is not leaving the fight. in fact, demint might be able to spend more time on issues he is most passionate about at the heritage foundation. he explained his thinking on "special report" a short time ago. >> i think i'm in a more powerful position than a single united states senator. i wouldn't feel good about leaving if we didn't have so many new bright young conservatives now in the senate. but it's time that conservatives take control of our message and let americans know what we can do to make their lives better. earlie

next week will be critical in terms of president obama and speaker boehner finding a compromise. shep? >> shepard: democrats are still saying what they have said all along and what the president ran on this is about taxes. >> that is true and they note president obama campaigned on upper income americans paying more so they intend to make sure that happens. the house democratic leader says the only obstacle is republicans refusing to ask the top 2% to pay more. >> this is a moment of truth. the clock is ticking. christmas is coming. the goose is getting fat. but in many homes across america, it's very -- very very lean time. >> after talking to reporters leader pelosi went to the white house to meet with the president over what's described as a number of issues. >> shepard: mike, the republicans have insisted from the very beginning that this goes well beyond the tax issue. >> shep, you are right, indeed speaker boehner says taxing high income people does not fix our massive fiscal mess. >> even if the president got the tax rate hike that he wanted, understand that we would continue t